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    Category Biology/Biotechnology

    Molecular Thumb Drives: Researchers store Digital Images in Metabolite Molecules

    July 7, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    Experimental setup
    The approach maps the ones the zeros of digital data to the presence or absence of particular molecules in solutions. The researchers used the scheme to encode image files in solutions.

    In a step toward molecular storage systems that could hold vast amounts of data in tiny spaces, researchers have shown it’s possible to store image files in solutions of common biological small molecules.

    DNA molecules are well known as carriers of huge amounts of biological information, and there is growing interest in using DNA in engineered data storage devices that can hold vastly more data than our current hard drives. But new research shows that DNA isn’t the only game in town when it comes to molecular data storage.

    A study led by Brown University researchers shows that it’s possible to s...

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    HIV Eliminated from the Genomes of Living Animals

    July 5, 2019, Categories  Health/Medical, Biology/Biotechnology

    A working model for HIV-1 elimination. A cartoon illustration of the viral elimination strategy is shown for single LASER ART, AAV9-CRISPR-Cas9 injection groups and dual treatment groups. We highlight the observed restriction of viral infection by LASER ART and an inability to achieve elimination of virus by AAV9-CRISPR-Cas9 treatment alone. However, the sequential administration of LASER ART and AAV9-CRISPR-Cas9 can achieve viral elimination in a subset of animals. Why specific animals are cured of infection while others are not is incompletely understood but tied, in measure, to viral set points

    Researchers have for the first time eliminated replication-competent HIV-1 DNA – the virus responsible for AIDS – from the genomes of living animals...

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    Ultra-Small Nanoprobes could be a leap forward in High-Resolution Human-Machine Interfaces

    July 5, 2019, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics, Biology/Biotechnology

    nano_probes
    U-shaped nanowires can record electrical chatter inside a brain or heart cell without causing any damage. The devices are 100 times smaller than their biggest competitors, which kill a cell after recording. Credit: Lieber Group, Harvard University

    Machine enhanced humans – or cyborgs as they are known in science fiction – could be one step closer to becoming a reality, thanks to new research Lieber Group at Harvard University, as well as scientists from University of Surrey and Yonsei University.

    Researchers have conquered the monumental task of manufacturing scalable nanoprobe arrays small enough to record the inner workings of human cardiac cells and primary neurons.

    The ability to read electrical activities from cells is the foundation of many biomedical procedures, such as ...

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    Astronomers Help Wage War on Cancer

    July 5, 2019, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Biology/Biotechnology

    A model showing light (red/yellow) penetrating the surface of the human breast (white triangles). Credit: T. Harries

    A model showing light (red/yellow) penetrating the surface of the human breast (white triangles). Credit: T. Harries

    Techniques developed by astronomers could help in the fight against breast and skin cancer. A large part of astronomy depends on the detection and analysis of light. For example, scientists study the light scattered, absorbed and re-emitted in clouds of gas and dust, obtaining information on their interior.

    Despite the vast differences in scale, the processes that light undergoes when travelling through the human body are very similar to those seen in space. And when things go wrong – when tissue becomes cancerous – that change should show up.

    In the UK, nearly 60,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and 12,000 die...

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